Car-door-operating mechanism.



No. 797,332. PATBNTED AUG. l5, 1905 J1 S. STEVENSON. GAR DUUR OPERATING MECHANISM APPLIUATION FILED HAE.].0.1905.

WFHM

ioni

JOHN S. STEVENSON,

OF DETROIT, IVHCTHGAN.

no. massa Speeeation of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. l5, 1905.

Application filed March l0, 1905. Serial No. 249,431.

Be it known that I, JonN S. S'r'cvnNso-N, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Door-Opcrating` Mechanisms, of which the following` is a full, clear, and exact descriptioii, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it apix-irtains to make and use the same, reiference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which rFigure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a dropbottom gondola ear, showing my improved door-operating* mechanism mounted thereon. Fig. 2 is a sectional view online 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig'. 3 is a modified form of track-rail, and Fig. 4 is another modi'cation of the trackrail.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in operating mechanism for cardoors, particularly that class wherein the doors form the bottom of the car when in their closed position, said doors being hinged to the center or side sills, as the case may be, to discharge the contents of the load outwardly or iinvardly, as desired.

l/Vhile I have shown my improved mechanism cooperatingV with outwardly-discharging doors, it is obvious that the same could be applied in combination with iiiwardlyopening doors, and also it will be obvious that instead of having1 the mechanism cooperating` with longitudinally-arranged doors said Amechanism could cooperate with transversely-arranged doors-such, for instance, as those found in the type of drop-bottom gondola cars shown in the drawings or hopper-bottom cars.

To this end my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts, all as will be hereinafter described and afterward pointed out in the claims.

ln the drawings, l indicates the side walls of the car; 2, the side sills; 3, the center sills; il, the doors hinfredto the center sills, and 5 a hood or cover for the center sills. "While these parts are shown as being made of wood, it is obvious that rolled or pressed steel niembors and sheets could be employed.

(i .indicates a track in the form of an angle secured. to the center sills and lookingr down under the door, said angle extending upward ly at the side of the car and being' secured to the side sill. lnstead ol having this angle continuous for each door it is obvious that pendants could be dropped `from the side and center sills to which the track portions 7 could be secured. This track portion 7 is preferably inclined slightly and at a point under the free edge of the door is provided. with a jogn or bend 8, whose face is approximately at right angles to a link t), whose roller 10 operates upon the track. This link Q pivotally connected to the free edge of the door, the lower end of said link preferably on the axle of the roller having connected to ita link 1l, made up, preferably, of spaced pieces, as shown in F ig. This link l l is pivotally connected to a rock-arm 1.2, mounted on a rock-shaft 1 3, having the usual ratchetwheel 14 at its end and the shank portion l5, the said ratchet-wheel cooperating,r with locking-pawls (not shown) in a well-known manner and the said shank being designed to receive a socket-wrench or operatingi-handle, (not shown,) as is well understood.

The operation of the device is apparent from Fig. l. When the door is closed, the parts are in thc position shown at the left in Fil. l, in which it will be seen that the link J is located above the portion 8 of the track, so that the cud thrust on said link or the load supported by the door is practically transmitted. in lines parallel to the axis of said link. ln this position of the parts the pivotal points of the rock-arm 'l2 and the link 11 are in straight lines commonly known as positions of dead-center. To open the door, the rock-shaft 1 3 is rotated in the proper direction, so as to swing the rock-arm away from the `free edge of the door, and in so doing` the roller 10 will leave the track portion S and run along the track portion 7, permitting the free edge of the door to swing down, as shown at the right in Fig. l.

ln Fig. 3 l have shown a modified forni of track and roller, the roller 10L having a lllshaped groove in its periphery em'peratiiin with an iiiverted-til-shaped track 7 1, whereby a giude is provided tending;` to pre vent accidental. lateral displacement of the roller. The track 7l may be 'made of pressed steel whose integral end members, which are secured to the center and side sills, are so shaped at their points of attachment as to adapt themselves to the faces of the members to which they are attached.

:ln Fig'. lli .have shown anolher mmlilication of the track in which instead of having' the portion 7 of Fig. l straight the same is .-argbody and having a transverse portion curved, as at 7b, which equalizes the power required to raise the door at all times during i the closing operation. In this form vit will l also be seen that the jog or bend Sb is at a greater angle to the adjacent track portion 7 b, so that the axial line of link 9 with respect to the plane of said bent portion 8b is less than a right angle.

l am aware that minor changes in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of my device can be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without in the least departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. ln a door operating mechanism for cars, the combination with a swinging` door providing a part of the bottom of the car and having al link pivotally connected to its free end, of a door-supporting track below the with which the opposite end of the link cooperates; substantially as described.

2. ln a door-operating mechanism forE cars, the combination with a pivoted door forming part of the bottom of the car, of a link pivotally connected to the free end of said door and extending below the car-body, a roller mounted in the outer end ot said link, a transverse track below the bottom of the car and with which said roller cooperates, and means connected to the outer end of said link for operating the same and its connected door; substantially as described.

3. ln a door-operating mechanism Vfor cars, the combination with a pivoted door forming a part of the bottom of the car, of a link pivotally mounted on the free edge of said door, a door-supporting track suspended from the body of the car and below the bottom thereof for supporting the outer end of said link, said track being so constructed that when the door is closed the load will be transmitted through the link upon the track in a direction approximately perpendicular to the portion of the track supporting the door, and means for operating the link; substantially as described.

Ll. ln a door operating mechanism for cars, the combination with the door, of a link pivotally connected to the free edge of the door, a roller mounted in the outer end of said link, a track comprising the portions 7 and 8 for cooperating with said roller, a rockarm, a link for connecting said rock-arm and said door-link, and means for operating said rock-arm; substantially as described.

5. In a door operating mechanism for cars, the combination with a swinging door forming a part of the bottom of the car and having a link pivotally connected to its Jfree end, of a supporting-track with which the opposite end of said link cooperates, said track having a curved portion below the licor of the car over which the link operates so as to equalize the power required to close the door, and means for operating the link; substantially as described.

6. In a dooroperating mechanism for cars, the combination with a swinging door having a link pivctally connected to its 'tree end, of means for operating said link, and a supporting-track having a flat face at one end for supporting the link in the closed position of the door, the adjacent portion of the track being curved; substantially as described.

ln testimony whereof l hereunto aHiX my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, this 2d day ot March, 1905.

vJOHN S. STEVENSON. Wlitnesses Giro. F. PULFORD, A. D. MCADAM. 

